Geological History of the Turkana Basin

August 2-6, 2011
TBI-Turkwel, Kenya

Description

The tenth annual Stony Brook Human Evolution Workshop was held at TBI’s Turkwel research facility, Augusts 2-6, 2011. Entitled “Geological History of the Turkana Basin,” this workshop covered topics such as plate tectonic setting of the Turkana Basin, relation of the Turkana Depression to the Ethiopian Rift and Kenya Rift, timing of major faulting, sedimentary sequences, dating of volcanic sequences, volcanic rocks and volcanic history, geochemistry of ancient lakes, and geology and its relation to paleontology.

To understand the Turkana Basin and its place in mammalian evolution, the geological record must be examined for context within which the major evolutionary events took place. Geological exploration of the Turkana Basin began in the 1930’s and accelerated greatly after World War II. Palaeontological research in the Turkana Basin began in the mid 1960’s and active research programs in Geology and in Palaeontology have continued every since. With the completion of construction of the Turkana Basin Institute facility at Turkwel, on the west side of Lake Turkana and the development of a permanent facility at Ileret, on the east side, with construction of a complete facility about to begin there, TBI wished to bring together a wide variety of researchers to discuss major themes and knowledge concerning the geological history of the Turkana Basin. Experience with the past nine workshops has led to the exchange of knowledge and ideas, and the discussion of priorities for future research has been tremendously rewarding for all participants and has led to improved understanding and to new collaborations.

The following topics were covered:

Regional structural background

Plate tectonic setting of the Turkana Basin

Relation of the Turkana Depression to the Ethiopian Rift and Kenya Rift